A Smart Conversation about Guns

Last night, Town Hall hosted a forum on gun violence that didn’t devolve into a shouting match and included only one mention of Ann Coulter.

Entitled “Gun Violence: A Public Health Crisis,” this first of three February civic forums was an evidence-based look at the patterns, impact and cost of gun-related “unintentional” deaths, suicide and homicide. Steered by a panel of public health officials and doctors and steeped in verifiable studies and facts (which is no mean feat considering Congress de-funded CDC research into firearm injuries in 1996), the forum provided a rare opportunity to examine the staggering impact of gun violence and a present a wide range of solutions—even before getting to the controversial topic of an assault-weapons ban.

Interestingly, the most polarizing figure of the night was city councilmember Sally Bagshaw, who served as a reminder of how difficult it will be to transfer informed, rational conversation on this topic into the arena of political action.